dragonfire88's Full Review: Stephenie Meyer - Twilight
I can't remember when I first heard something about Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, a young adult vampire book. I know that I have been hearing more about it for the last year or so and while I was sort of interested, I hadn't picked up the book. The book, and the three sequels, have gotten more attention in the last few months since the fourth book came out and the movie version of Twilight was going to be released. I looked at the book a few different times, but kept putting it back for some reason. I only recently went ahead and got it.
Seventeen-year-old Isabella Swan was moving to Forks Washington to live with her father even though she detested the town. She was making the sacrifice so her mother could travel with her second husband. Bella was nervous about starting a new school though she seemed to make a few friends fairly easy. She noticed the Cullens during lunch, especially Edward. She was mystified and hurt when he acted like he hated her during biology even though they had never spoken to each other at that point. She was relieved when Edward wasn't around for a few days. She was even more confused when he was being nice to her once he returned.
Bella did start to notice a few things about him that made her think he wasn't human. She was convinced after talking to Jacob Black, a member of the Quileute tribe, and he shared a story about creatures the tribe thought were vampires. Bella remained drawn to Edward even after she was convinced he was a vampire and she wasn't worried about him turning on her. Edward did admit that he had feelings for her as well even though he was worried about her safety.
The plot for Twilight really wasn't complicated. Much of the book was focused on Bella adjusting to living in Forks and then how her unique relationship with Edward developed. There really weren't many exciting things going on for most of the book, but I wouldn't say that I wasn't interested in what was going on. I still thought the things that were happening were interesting and I wanted to keep reading to find out exactly how certain things would work out. I did think there were a few minor surprises.
I had heard some about Twilight and the three sequels before I finally read the book. I didn't hear everything that happened, but I had heard enough to know that certain things were going to happen at some point in the series, especially where Breaking Dawn was concerned. Since I knew those few things - some of which were rather important - there weren't many surprises for me. I'm thinking I would have felt there were more surprises and suspense if I had read the book when it first came out. Even knowing what I did about the series, I still really enjoyed this book and thought it is a good vampire book, especially for teenagers.
I have read several books featuring vampires. Twilight wasn't that different from the others, though there were a few different twists. The vampires still drank blood, but the Cullens didn't hunt humans. They were very strong, didn't sleep, and daylight wouldn't hurt them. They still didn't go out when it was sunny because they sparkled in sunlight and would be very noticeable. That was why they chose to live in Forks where it was cloudy and rainy most of the time. None of them were shown to eat or drink. Only a little bit about how vampires were made was shared. It seemed to be mostly the same. Edward made it clear that many other vampires had no issue with hunting and killing humans. In fact, some took great delight in the activity. Some of those vampires turned up later in the movie to add more conflict to what was going on. There was a little bit of violence once the other vampires turned up. It wasn't that extreme or graphic, so I don't think it would bother most readers. It was rather tame compared to what has been in some other vampire books I've read.
The developing relationship between Bella and Edward was very important to what was going on throughout most of Twilight. They met fairly early, though Edward didn't like her at first while she was drawn to him and couldn't stop thinking about him. Edward did go through a change of attitude and then it was clear that he was interested in Bella as well, though he was very concerned that she was in danger being with him. The most they did to act on their feelings was to kiss a few times. It was all rather chaste and nothing offensive happened.
Twilight was told in the first person point of view from Bella's perspective, so all her thoughts and feelings were shared and it was fairly clear why she did certain things. It was also just as unclear why other characters, specifically Edward, did certain things. Bella ended up being much more developed than the other characters, though there was a good amount of development for Edward as well.
Bella decided on her own to live with her father Charlie even though it didn't seem like they had that close of a relationship and she hated Forks. Bella frequently thought about how much she disliked Forks and the rainy climate. That did get a bit old at times, but it wasn't too annoying. Something else that happened later in the book, along with her reasoning for moving to Forks to begin with, made it seem like she had a bit of a martyr complex going on. Sometimes she would take a while to make a decision and other times she would make a decision rather quick and then stick with it. Her father Charlie was the sheriff and use to living alone. He wasn't exactly sure what to do with Bella, but it was clear that he loved her and wanted her safe.
Edward was the member of the Cullen family that was shown the most. He seemed to be moody at first. He did start to act different and it was clear that he had strong feelings for Bella. He was conflicted about certain things, especially where Bella was concerned. He seemed to be nice most of the time, even for a vampire. He was able to read thoughts, but he was never able to read Bella's. His ability made him a bit of an outsider even with his family since vampires generally couldn't do that. The Cullens really weren't actually related and instead were all vampires that had decided to live like Carlisle and not hunt humans. The people in town believed that he and Esme had adopted the others.
Alice was the one that Edward seemed to be the closest too. She was more accepting of Bella and also had her own rather unique ability. She was involved with Jasper, who didn't say much. He did seem to have a calming effect on people. Rosalie was very beautiful and not at all happy about Edward getting involved with Bella. She was rather shallow and use to getting a lot of attention because of her good looks. She was involved with Emmet. He did seem to be conflicted at times because he didn't always agree with her. James and two other vampires turned up later in the book to cause some trouble. They had no problem with hunting humans and in fact enjoyed it. James was very dangerous. The friends that Bella made at school were around some without being that developed. There was also at least one girl, Lauren, who didn't like Bella right from the start for some reason.
Twilight was an entertaining vampire book that I think is worth reading. People who like books about vampires may enjoy it, though since the book was aimed at teenagers, adults may not like certain aspects of it. I'll probably end up picking up the other three books before much longer.
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